Orange essential oil, like all essential oils can be found on store shelves as single-ingredient products, but it is also widely used in cosmetics, home care products and food. It’s used as part of natural flavourings in foods and medicines but it also brings bright, refreshing aromas to lotions, creams, sun protection products, air-fresheners, laundry detergents and much more.

Orange essential oil is made by the steam distillation of orange peels most commonly. The peel is exposed to a controlled amount of heat in water. The evaporated water is condensed and collected. Floating atop the water will be a layer of highly concentrated orange essential oil.

In the EU, limonene must appear as a separate ingredient in ingredient lists, despite it being a naturally occurring component of orange essential oil because it is also used in proprietary parfum/perfume/fragrance blends. It must appear separately because it is recognised as an allergenic fragrance.

Did you know that neroli essential oil is also made from the orange plant? Neroli is made using the flowers/blossom of the bitter orange tree. Similarly, another well known fragrance called petitgrain is made using orange leaf.

There are over 400 different types of orange variety grown commercially around the world.

Citrus essential oils may contain photosensitive compounds called furanocoumarins. These are not present in steam distilled essential oils, making them safe to use in day creams and sun protection lotions.